Job satisfaction and motivation among public sector health workers: evidence from Ethiopia

BACKGROUND: Although human resources for health have received increased attention by health systems decision-makers and researchers in recent years, insufficient attention has been paid to understanding the factors that influence the performance of health workers. This empirical study investigates the factors that are associated with health worker motivation over time among public sector primary health care workers in Ethiopia. METHODS: The study is based on data from public sector health worker surveys collected through a convenience sample of 43 primary health care facilities in four regions (Addis Ababa, Oromia, Amhara, and Somali) at three points in time: 2003/04, 2006, and 2009. Using a Likert scale, respondents were asked to respond to statements regarding job satisfaction, pride in work, satisfaction with financial rewards, self-efficacy, satisfaction with facility resources, and self-perceived conscientiousness. Inter-reliability of each construct was assessed using Cronbach’s alpha, and indices of motivational determinants and outcomes were calculated for each survey round. To explore the associations between motivational determinants and outcomes, bivariate and multivariate regression analyses were carried out based on a pooled dataset. RESULTS: Among the sample public sector health workers, several dimensions of health worker motivation significantly increased over the study period, including two indicators of motivational outcomes—overall job satisfaction and self-perceived conscientiousness—and two indicators of motivational determinants—pride and self-efficacy. However, two other dimensions of motivation—satisfaction with financial rewards and satisfaction with facility resources—significantly decreased. The multivariate analyses found that the constructs of pride, self-efficacy, satisfaction with financial rewards, and satisfaction with facility resources were significantly associated with the motivational outcomes, after controlling for other factors. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, the findings support the premise that both financial and non-financial factors are important determinants of health worker motivation in the Ethiopian context. Although the findings do not point to specific interventions that should be introduced, they do suggest possible areas that interventions should target to help improve health worker motivation. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12960-015-0083-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.